complete issue - IMA Fungus

ARTIcLE
neglected despite their importance, and again limited and
pressured human and resource capacity exist to address this.
Mycology presents vast opportunities to address the
various challenges in Africa. Sustainable ethnomycology
provides valuable food and medicines and conserves such
knowledge (e.g. Lowore & Boa 2001, Bloesch & Mbago
2008). The cultivation of mushrooms on waste products such
as straw is practised in numerous rural communities and
provides valuable sources of protein and income. Africa’s
fungal biodiversity represents potential opportunities to
develop valuable products or by-products to address third
world environmental and food security related problems, or
to discover biological control methods to combat diseases.
cAPAcIty - whAt Are the Needs ANd
resources For Mycology
Mycology is a diverse biological field. It can be broadly divided
into medical mycology, food mycology, industrial mycology,
aspects of plant pathology, symbioses, ecology, biodiversity,
and systematics, with numerous overlaps between fields and
expertise. Specific needs and processes for each of these
fields may differ. However, the following broad activities
underlie each.
Specific fungi need to be collected and isolated using the
specialised techniques known for the different groups of fungi
and for different fields of mycology, unless these are obligate
parasites that cannot be cultured. Collecting trips largely
involve the same procedures as those for other organisms,
but for many groups of fungi, a great deal of additional effort
is necessary to first isolate and purify these fungi in culture
before identification can be attempted. Whereas the larger
fungi, such as mushrooms, are more tangible and countable,
it is especially these cultured fungi that are more numerous
but difficult to comprehend by non-mycologists. Furthermore,
even with the larger fungi, the absence of fruiting bodies
does not necessarily imply the absence of the fungus, but
are merely tied to the absence of special environmental
conditions conducive to the production of fruiting bodies.
Ideally, living isolates and biologically inactive herbarium
specimens of fungi should be preserved in culture collections
and herbaria, respectively, where these will continue to
be available for study by other mycologists. The needs to
do this are quite different from those of preserving various
types of animals and plants, and in general are more costly,
labour and time intensive, and specialised. Sadly, very few
such official collections exist, while large numbers of these
fungi are kept in private research collections under immense
financial pressure and largely linked to the presence of the
particular researcher or the particular research project.
Various steps of identification and special expertise are
necessary to either identify known fungi, for instance in the
case of pathogens where the correct identity is vital, or to be
able to obtain a sensible designation for unknown fungi. Such
identifications are often very difficult due to the large degree
of variation in the fungal kingdom, the specialization and
techniques required to identify different groups, and limited
human expertise. Even internationally, fewer mycologists and
funding are available to actually identify and describe new fungi.
Gryzenhout, Jefwa & Yorou
Several specific needs and resources have been
identified for mycology in Africa, although these may by no
means be unique to this continent. Physical needs such
as funding and infrastructure are quite delimiting, and both
are usually necessary for sustainable research. Even with
increasing interest from global funding organizations in Africa,
mycologists usually have to compete with other biologists
working with more understandable and visible organisms.
Resources such as checklists are lacking. Whereas physical
needs can be met, human needs such as support by experts
and mentors to provide guidance and training, and available
students interested and funded to do projects, are more
difficult to meet. Experts willing to assist in identifications and
coaching are difficult to find, usually overloaded themselves,
and are often not on the African continent.
threAts to FuNgI IN AFrIcA
The same problems existing in Africa affecting diversity
and numbers of animals and plants, apply to fungi. These
problems include slash and burn, overgrazing, alien
plant invasions, reforestations with non-native trees,
encroachment, fragmentation, poor land management,
degradation, and transformation (Gryzenhout et al. 2010,
Ngala & Gryzenhout 2010). However, the difference is that
fungi are not at all included in any such assessments, nor
are the effects and impact on these fungi known. Their
diversity and functionality are understudied, and hence the
impact of anthropogenic activities is unknown and the need
for conservation overlooked. The invasiveness of non-native
fungi is seldom studied, except for plant pathogens proven
to be introduced, and the displacements of native fungi are
thus unknown.
Numbers of microfungi and larger, visible fungi are
disappearing without being noticed. Due to pressures to
produce food, indiscriminate spraying of especially nonselective
fungicides by farmers is detrimental to fungi
occurring on non-agricultural crops. Africa prizes a number
of local edible mushrooms, such as species of the truffle
genus Terfezia and chanterelles (Cantharellus), but these
are occasionally overharvested or traded illegally. The loss of
habitat due to deforestation for settlement and cultivation in
Africa is alarming and associated with the loss of local fungi.
Furthermore, trees are destroyed for firewood, the making of
charcoal, timber, and tourist ornaments, and thus the fungi
occurring with them as natural pathogens or endophytes
inside plant tissues, also disappear. Numerous fungal taxa
are thus undergoing threats of extinction, along with their
symbiotically associated plant species and generally in small
sized hotspots. A recent Red List of threatened larger fungi
of Benin totaling 30 species within two hotspots (Yorou & De
Kesel 2011), gives evidence of the impact of human activities
on fungal biodiversity and the need to elaborate ecosystemsbased
conservation strategies.
Africa has a rich tradition of ethnomycology that has
not yet been documented in most parts. The traditional
knowledge and practices are, however, declining from one
generation to another, with older generations often still
remaining the sole custodians. Simultaneously, a number
100 ima funGuS